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CODY RHODES VS. WARBEARD HANSON & MORE: 6/25 NORTHEAST WRESTLING 'BIG BETHANY BASH' IN BETHANY, CT LIVE REPORT

By Paul Crockett on 2017-06-25 19:12:00

Northeast Wrestling “The Big Bethany Bash”
Bethany, CT
June 25, 2017

NEW returns to their home base of Bethany for another big appearance from new Ring of Honor World Champion Cody Rhodes.  In addition to that title, he is also the NEW Heavyweight Champion.  He defends in the main event against ROH & New Japan star Warbeard Hanson.

The injured TK O’Ryan was introduced as the “Best Ring Announcer Around” and brought out for guest ring announcing duties for the night.  The name plays around his theme song in NEW, which is “You’re The Best Around” from The Karate Kid.  He got a huge babyface reaction, as this is The Kingdom’s home promotion outside of ROH.  He was being carried to the ring while holding a crutch, pretending he could barely stand.  He then barrel rolled and stood straight up to an ovation usually reserved for Ricky Morton in Charlotte circa 1986.

He said this show is in honor of The Great American Bash and Dusty Rhodes.  They then played a really cool video package with Dusty promos and in-ring highlights.

MATCH ONE: JT Dunn v. Vinny Marseglia

This was a back and forth affair from the start.  Both guys exchanged back to back suicide dives to the floor.  Back inside the ring, it was constant attempts at quick pins, slams, suplexes and strikes.

At the ring announce table, O’Ryan was not ashamed to show his bias toward Vinny, as they are both members of The Kingdom.

They kept going back in forth exchanging nearfalls in the ring until the finish.  JT Dunn went for a top rope cutter but Vinny pushed him off.  As JT laid prone on the floor, Vinny hit a Swanton for the pin.  Good opener that got the crowd hyped up.

WINNER: Vinny Marseglia

MATCH TWO: Nico Silva v. “Cold Steel” Chuck O’Neil

These two have had a lengthy rivalry in the Top Rope Promotion in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Good exchanges on the mat early on, with Silva showing really good babyface fire.  The tides turned when Nico went for a plancha to the floor and O’Neil, in a really impressive display of strength, caught him and slammed him on the floor.

From there, Nico was doing a lot of very good selling as O’Neil got the heat on him.  O’Neil continues to show a lot more confidence with his offense, including some really great suplex variations where he made Silva look like a rag doll.

Silva showed more fire on his comeback, which included three straight suicide dives to the floor to rally the crowd behind him.  They started trading nearfalls from that point on.  The finish saw both men going for a big knockout blow before O’Neil hit a flying triangle, brought it to the floor and tapped Silva out.  Good solid match.  While Silva started out as the clear babyface, O’Neil put in such a good performance that the entire crowd gave him a great reaction as he left the ring.

WINNER: Chuck O’Neil

MATCH THREE: Maxwell Jacob Friedman v. “Man Scout” Jake Manning

In case you’ve never seen him, Manning does a Boy Scout gimmick.

Some comedy early on from Manning, including tying MJF up in a knot in the ropes.  I assume he has a merit badge for that.  More of a over the top heel persona from MJF tonight, going full board on the facial expressions and begging off.

Manning was all over the map with his moves, whether it be on the floor or in the air.  This was super-fast paced and didn’t go all that long before MJF caught Manning in a roll-up with a handful of tights for the win.

WINNER: Maxwell Jacob Friedman

MATCH FOUR: Rex Lawless v. Ron Zombie

Ron does a Rob Zombie gimmick.  He looks a lot like him.

This was a hoss fight.  Mostly big strikes between them.  Lawless was getting the short end of the stick so he powdered, but Zombie followed and ended up biting him on the outside.

Zombie had him in the corner.  As the referee tried separating them, Lawless hit a closed fist punch that stunned Zombie and Lawless started the heat from there.  Lawless was working him over slowly, and went for a Vader Bomb but missed and Zombie started his comeback.

They traded nearfalls until Zombie finished it with a leaping DDT.  The match got a little lost toward the end, but both guys were clearly working very hard.  Plus, the crowd popped big for the finish.

WINNER: Ron Zombie

MATCH FIVE: King of Bethany Crown – Travis “Flip” Gordon v. “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister

This is a crown (literally) that is defended only in this town.  Gordon is the current King.

Hollister has a ton of natural charisma.  He played the powerhouse to Flip’s high-flyer role.  To do running commentary on this one would do it a disservice.  These two went in there and worked their asses off from bell-to-bell.  For every great high flying move Gordon pulled off, Hollister was right there with him with power and finesse.

The only issue with the crowd was the fact that it was a countout finish.  Hollister overwhelmed Flip after cutting him off on a big suicide dive attempt.  He then powerbombed him twice on the apron, which led to the countout win.  My guess is this will lead to a rematch, which if it’s as good as this match was, will have a great payoff.

Hollister was announced as the winner, but the crown cannot change hands on a countout.  Hollister then attacked Flip after the match and put the crown on, which got boos from the crowd.

WINNER: “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister

Jared Silberkleit came out and took the mic.  He said he has been an NEW employee for four years, and he’s sick of being disrespected by the fans and the wrestlers, so he’s taken things into his own hands.  Now that his trust fund has kicked in, he went to Marshall McNeil and purchased the contract of Wrecking Ball Legursky, and he is going to unleash him on the roster.

MATCH SIX: Wrecking Ball Legursky v. “Red Lion” Chris Battle

Battle is a part of the popular Battle Brothers tag team in the promotion.

This was another hoss fight, as Legursky looks to be around 350 pounds, while Battle is also a big boy.  Battle got Legursky to the ground with a dropkick from the top rope.  Legursky was right back up and started the heat on Battle.

Battle made his comeback and got some nearfalls.  He looked ready to finish things when Jared jumped up on the apron for the distraction.  Jared bailed and when Battle turned around, he ran right into a huge powerslam for the three count.

WINNER: Wrecking Ball Legursky

The tag team champions The Now (Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus) came out.  O’Ryan announced they paid for the time to give the fans a personal message.  They said they’re not the kind of guys to say “I told you so,” but they told you so.  They put over their tag title win over The Battle Brothers.  He then ran down Connecticut and the horrible drivers in the state (which is an absolute fact).  He then said they have no sports teams and pay insane taxes (also true).  They then said no one will be able to stop them or beat them.  They left the ring.

As TK O’Ryan was back in the ring to do ring announcing, The Now went back in and jumped him.  They went to Pillmanize him when Marseglia and Taven came in and ran them off.  O’Ryan sold a ton until they were able to carry him out and get him in a wheelchair to the back.  Very effective angle in the idea and the execution.  It went a little too long with the promo, but other than that, well done stuff.

MATCH SEVEN: The Amazing Graysons (Tommy & JP) v. Adrenaline Rush (Daniel Evans & Jake Youngblood)

Lots of fast paced stuff in this one.  Graysons played heel and worked over Evans after cutting him off during the initial flurry.  Youngblood ran wild after a hot tag.  The finish saw Youngblood pin JP with a cross body block from the top rope.

WINNERS: Adrenaline Rush

NEW Owner Mike Lombardi came onto the ramp and announced that when they return to this building in August, The Now will defend the titles against The Kingdom, which got a huge reaction.

MAIN EVENT: NEW Heavyweight Championship – Cody Rhodes (c) v. Warbeard Hanson

Cody had the crowd in a froth as he was deciding where he should throw his shirt in the crowd when Hanson blindsided him with a clothesline to begin.

This was two really talented, well-traveled veterans going in there and having a really good main event, Heavyweight Title-style match.  They knew they didn’t have to kill themselves to engage the crowd and get them where they wanted them, yet they didn’t slack off, either.

Hanson was in full on heel mode and he was great in the role.  Cody would go for the occasional comeback during the heat, but Hanson would always cut him off and keep it building.

Hanson got a couple of nearfalls before Rhodes was able to cinch in a Figure Four, which because they built things properly, got a monster reaction.  Hanson eventually broke free.

Cody went for Cross Rhodes.  Hanson pushed out.  Cody went for a forearm, but Hanson ducked and Cody leveled the referee.  Another ref eventually came in.  Hanson went for a springboard clothesline but Cody decked and THAT ref was leveled.  Cody hit Cross Rhodes, but by the time the ref came in, Hanson kicked out at two.  The third ref got in the middle of them and he got sandwiched in between them with a double body block.  That led to the double down between them and a “This Is Awesome!" chant.  Very rare to get that chant for such simple spots, but when both guys are this great, they can make anything work.

They traded punches and the crowd got even more fired up.  They both reversed a bunch of finisher attempts until Cody hit the Cross Rhodes for the win.  Absolutely outstanding main event.

After the match, Cody said he had a great weekend, becoming the ROH World Champion.  He said it led to speculation that he is wrapping up his independent dates, which he says it’s false.  He then said NEW isn’t an indy, anyway.  He said there was a report he separated his shoulder, but he’s having an MRI and he’s confident he’s fine.  He said next time he’s in Bethany, he’ll also have the IWGP Championship.  He put over the video package of Dusty from earlier and thanked everyone for coming.

WINNER: Cody Rhodes

A really fun show tonight from NEW with a great angle and a fantastic main event.  If you’re in the Northeast and can check them out, give them a shot.

You can follow them online @NEWWrestling1

Follow me @HelloCrockett

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